New television series explores Australian islands

MARTIN Clunes, star of TV’s popular Doc Martin series, is on a quest to explore the islands of Australia, according to art and entertainment journalist Billy Suter’a recent SoSutherBill posting.

The new, three-part documentary series, ‘Martin Clunes and the Islands of Australia’, starts on DStv’s ITV Choice (channel 123) on Sunday, August 20, at 7pm.

According to Billy, Martin had more than 8000 islands to choose from, but visited 16 that provided a fascinating insight into the diversity, history and challenges of island life in Australia.

“I’m on an 8000-mile odyssey right around the continent, to discover what these far-flung places tell us about Australia and its people,” said Martin.

“Each island is a microcosm that tells us something different about our world. Australia’s islands have it all: exotic creatures, spectacular marine life, and of course the different people who inhabit them. Whether they’re relative newcomers or they’ve lived there for generations, these are the resourceful, extraordinary people who call these islands home. This is my voyage around the adventure playgrounds, the best-kept secrets and the astonishing surprises of the Islands of Australia.”

Among the more interesting islands he travels to is Restoration Island, where he meets Dave Glasheen, a modern-day Robinson Crusoe. A high-flying businessman with a big mansion in Sydney, he was ruined in a stock market crash in 1993 and gave it all up for a life of self-sufficiency and solitude.

Martin also visits The Tiwi Islands, where there are 3500 Tiwis. They’ve been there for millennia and are one of Australia’s most distinctive Aboriginal cultures.

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